Sony Xperia Ray Updated To Android ICS 4.0.4 – Review

Hello guys, I’m back with my Xperia Ray update review! Recently we have discussed about on How To Root Sony Xperia Ray With Android 4.0.3. Hope you enjoyed that article. After upgrading from Gingerbread to Ice cream Sandwich. The previous update 4.0.3 have some major bugs and battery draining issues. The new upgrade 4.0.4 will clear these issues. So, I always search for “Sony Xperia Reviews” in google to know the user opinions about the version 4.0.3. Yesterday I got the new update of Android Icecream Sandwich 4.0.4! Now, there are no more big issues like battery draining, force close or lag. I think, this version is more stable and smoother than the previous version. Another noticable thing is our Xperia Ray Battery Life is optimized in this version! Well, let us take a closer look to the new update!

New Improvements from 4.0.3 to 4.0.4

Battery life seems to keep getting better.

Wifi connecting speed and stability has been perfected.

Scrolling is very smooth,even with intensive Live wallpapers running.

Homescreen transition became smooth.

Phone Dialer improved a little bit.

New “DOCK” settings.

Getting good amount of free RAM and more internal space.

Faster and smoother camera.

Screen rotation is pretty fast.

Xperia Ray Update Review

Now, take a look at the new options included in the ICS 4.0.4.

New Dock setting to disable or enable the sound when inserting or removing phone from dock.

New help animation for newbies for understanding pattern lock security!

New option added for Enable/Disable “Power button instant lock”

New “help” added for better voice search options!

New design for Google Voice Search:

New option to “Block Offensive Words”

New “Help” Video link to YouTube for understanding more about “Google Voice Search”

So, don’t hesitate to update to the latest version of ICS 4.0.4. Its really awesome. So, what’s your experience? Are satisfied with this update? Let me know your comments.

238 comments

updating ray to 4.0.4 is really good,new features r available too….but some features liked r not found yet…such as screen animations,camera shutter sounds,screen unlocking with sliding followed by (pin,pattern,code) locks which could b used as an easiest way to get ur mob in silent mode now it is a short cut for camera.my final r8ting to this update is 4.8 out of 5.but such features r still missed by me!!!!

hello akhil
i really want to ask you something , how to upgrade android 2.3.4 to 4.0.4 ? can you show me step by step method ? i already download pc companian and failed during process updating. please help me

hi,
i have one problem after installing ICS4.0.4 on my ray…opera mini not working.. i tried re installing it..downloaded it but while installing it is saying internet connection failed…my packet data is on.. i downloaded apps from google play also.. but not able to use opera mini ..please help

# Check the games have got any new updates.
# Remove the unwanted apps that’s running on the background.
# I’m strongly recommend you to take a “full factory restore”. This will remove all the apps,games and change all your custom settings to default. But, from my experience by doing this, our phone get 50% more performance.

Never.By factory restore, we only restore our phone memory.Not the external.But there is a option to format external drive.Don’t do that. After restoring, just load your memory card to your pc and delete all unwanted files (i mean,the application files).

sorry..had selected wrong internet settings.. now working perfectly
and thanks for android 4 review… after reading on different sites about mobile getting slow i was very confused about upgrading, but your review was very helpful and now using it without any problem
thanks a lot..

hi there! i’ve recently updated my Xperia ray’s software to 4.0.4. and now i cant access internet through my phone. i have tried to repair it but still the problem persists..please help me on this. what should i do? thanks in advance.

The problem is the missing of “internet settings”. You can download (No internet connection needed to download) it by going to Settings> Xperia> Internet Settings> “Accept and download it”.Then go to Settings> Wireless & Networks> Mobile Networks> Access Point Names “choose the best one related to your location”.Then restart your phone.

Note: If you are unable to download settings, contact your network operator, and request them to send internet settings for “Sony Xperia Ray ST18i”.

That’s sad. From my experience, ICS is faster that any previous versions of android. I think, your third-party apps is the problem. Please uninstall high resource apps( check it from, Settings>>Apps). And restart your phone. That may resolve your issue.

The advantages are mentioned in this article. I think I can’t find any big disadvantages in ICS 4.0.4! The latest version of ICS gives you more advanced options, high graphics, better performance, more battery backup and lots more! So, update today!

Bro, Is there any option called internet pass-through in xperia ray like in HTC phones …wat is the advantage of internet pass through…
How can I uninstall all the pre installed apps in xperia Ray..
Mail to my Id…

Yeah, show that but was hoping to get that with the build as it was included in the last one.

Also I have been using now for a day and all good but I am not falling in love with the messaging app. Do we know if they are going to improve it?
I used Go SMS before and liked that it popped up my new messages when I logged in to the phone when message arrived and when I send out a message the delivery notification would be shown next to the send message.
Would like to see these features in the standard app as they are missing or I cant find them.

I have the ray and considering upgrade to ICS but after reading many posts, one problem persists is that the LED notification light does not work for SMS/email. I want to know if this is still an issue or not since you’re covering this very extensively. Thanks.

thanks for the update, sparkyhub is one of my latest RSS feed. I read that once upgrade to ICS 4.0.4, the LED on the ray works for missed calls but not text or email. If a text or email, the LED only flash once then stop. and it only flash more than once if the screen is on only.

Hi…
I have upgrade my Sony Xperia Ray from 2.3 to 4.0.4 using Sony PC companion. Plz note that i didn’t flash or root my mobile since the Authorized service agent in my country told me it will void my warranty. Since I don’t want to remove my warranty i Just did the upgrade without rooting the device. Now my device starting to get stuck, sudden switch off and the to start the mobile i have to remove and reattach the battery as well. also lot of apps working slowly. Plz advice to get this solve. I went to service center and they told me by downgrading the mobile to 2.3 will need to flash the device so it will remove the warranty..
Plz advice..

I forgot to tell you that unlike any other post here, my mobile switched off sometimes during an incoming call [Sometimes before answering it or sometimes as soon as i answer the call], then battery remove and reattach will start the mobile. Plz i really need your comments and suggestions. I do not want to remove my warranty also..
So i need some experts advice..

itrz working properly on desktop..
can u plz tell me d settings for WLAN for modem so tat i can make it work on my android.
my fone is detecting the wifi.. bt whn i entr the password it is showin ” saved, secured with WPA2″ bt not connectin to intrnet..
plz hlp me out with it..

I was reading this post including all of comment above,, u see when update to ICS 4.0.4 many good thing and bad thing will happen, I was using 4.0.4 on my Ray and it’s rock!!
before using 4.0.4 I’m using 4.0.3 using update with pcCompanion but I’m shock when using it, 4.0.3 is actually shock :p
and after update to 4.0.4 not using pcCompanion or SEUS, I’m just Flash it using flash tool with 4.0.4 .ftf file, now working very nice,, more better than 4.0.3, but I’m still have some bug in 4.0.4 :
1. The notification led (for incoming message) not blinking when the SCREEN is OFF;
2. Camera shooter sound can’t be put to silent even we have turn phone to silent or no sound mode;
3. Little lag for HD 720p recording even was disable image stabilizer;
4. The phone app is little bit slow 2-3 second before show up(this will be happen when not using phone call app for a long time about 1 hours);

The only problem solved is notification led, it’s will be done using app like SMS awake :p
thanks

its working properly on desktop..
can u plz tell me d settings for WLAN for modem so tat i can make it work on my android.
my fone is detecting the wifi.. bt whn i entr the password it is showin ” saved, secured with WPA2″ bt not connectin to intrnet..
plz hlp me out with it..

sir?? i just want to ask a simple question, how can i save images from facebook or browser?, because when i hold the picture that i want to save i doesn’t have an option to SAVE it or SAVE AS, even in the options it does’t have SAVE, only set as etc.. thank you very much

I solved this issue on my phone by full phone restore and with erasing sd card (after the 4.0.4 update).Then installed the apps again.Most of the apps moved to sd card. I’m recommending you to take full phone restoration (I have already mentioned the step in above comments).

You know one thing, most of the android users never “Clear the data” before uninstalling apps, so some data will remain on the phone, even the app is uninstalled. So, this will result in loss of phone memory! So, I’m recommend you take full phone restore and install necessary apps you need. Then move apps to the sd card (Some apps can’t move to sd card).

Tip For You:

Disabling unwanted apps (I mean pre-installed apps can’t be uninstalled) will help you to get more RAM memory!

I have an Xperia Ray running 4.0.4. I am facing a problem that the phone drops incoming calls regularly while on the call. I read a similar issue with the Xperia U on the sony forums. Anyone facing this problem?

I tried changing the network mode to pure GSM to ensure it was not a network issue, but did not see any improvement in the problem.

The problem happens while using it indoors as well as outdoors, and i checked the signal strength (number of bars) and found that the signal strength is not the cause.

hey akhil,
i am planning to buy sony xperia ray. what is ur advice . after so many reviews abt this phone, my doubts are , How is Battery Backup and it has very little internal memory . internal memory less means i cant install big softwares . waitiing fr ur reply brother. if u give me clean chit abt this mobile . i will buy the next day.

Welcome to SparkyHub. Thanks for reading my article. Please wait a little time, I’m writing a complete review about my phone(Sony Xpera Ray) today. You will get all needed information from that article.

sir we have the same problem with nitin nair. when i upgraded my 4.0.03 to 4.4 my wifi connects to my router slow need to on and off my wifi until it detects my wifi connection and when its detected i connect it manually it and sometimes my wifi disappear also or and it doesn’t connect automatically…on my older version wifi connects fast and automatically.. and when im connected to my wifi and im not using it and my phone sleeps my wifi disconnect.. and i checked the internet option that never turn off wifi when phone sleep and why is it it disconnect on its own… so far thats the problem on my new upgraded version on my ray…

hi akhil, just want to know what is the meaning of rooting in xperia ray? i am planning to upgrade my xperia ray from gingerbread to ics 4.0.4. i will just plug my phone to pc, and update my phone using pc companion? is that right?
thanks for you reply!

Rooting is basically granting yourself super user access to the phone. With it, you can install custom ROMs (alternative software), overclock to increase performance, underclock to increase your battery life, backup your data etc. It generally gives you more control over what you can do to your phone.

Hi to all here’s the problem i’m encountering right now with my upgraded ray from 4.0.3 to 4.0.4..
1. Wifi connection- i need to re-scan again and again to detect my wifi router to connect and it doesn’t connect automatically its says (connected saved) and im connecting manually…and most of the time wifi connection disappears. 2nd on wificonnecion.. example im connected to wifi and im using skype app on and when im not using it and ofcourse i want to stay online.. well after a minute of sleep of my phone wifi is disconnected on its own..and icheck the option that keep wifi on during sleep always..
2. SMS/MAil- The led notification of this doesn’t work..
3. Camera- It shoots on its own… most of the time.. some times its ok also but most of the not…
4. Connected onPC or loptop- the sensitivity of its touch is very high. example your selecting specific app like face book it opens other else and more apps..
5. Batterry- Still it heats up during calls..

ON my older version of 4.03– I didnt encounter this problems except for the battery heats up also..I admit it has better looks… Honestly for me i think 4.03 still best for now.. 4.0.4 still have bugs for me..
Please anyone have suggestions? or anyone can help me to bring it back to my older versions? TIA..

hi akhil, again i have a question, how will i download movies in dolphin browser? the videos in dolphin browser will stream if i click it, not download. how will i able to download it?
also, why is it that it tooks so many hours to charge my battery using the charger of blackberry(the adaptor and the usb)?i think almost 6-7hrs. when im using the samsung charger, it only took less than 2hrs. why is that? thanks!

You can easily download movies by using download manager app (pre-installed). And, don’t use any other phone chargers to charge your phone, it may severely harm your phone board (circuit board). Sony charger (ray) have a unique output power of 5.0DC with 850mA. Other chargers may have the same dc output of 5.0v, but mA varies. If you are using a charger with an output 850mA will harm your phone, in other case, a charger with less than 850mA will slowdown the charging and will destroy your “Battery Health”. So, I’m strongly recommend you to use sony chargers/ use straight via pc USB port! In my case USB charging is much faster and battery will get more backup time!!!

hey i have decided to upgrade my ray to 4.0.4 after reading this review but i use my viber a lot. could anyone please suggest me how viber works in 4.0.4 i could not take risk on the speed or call quality in viber. thanx in advance. rest of the review seems ok to me.

Author of this article and CEO of SparkyHub, Akhil K A is now engaged on his new research based project and he is busy on it. He will be back only after Six months and won’t be able to interact with you on comment section from here on wards.

Author of this article and CEO of SparkyHub, Akhil K A is now engaged on his new research based project and he is busy on it. He will be back only after Six months and won’t be able to interact with you on comment section from here on wards.

i like the interface of the new ice cream sandwich on xperia ray, BUT. ive got problems. I cant access play store. can you help me with this. its just loading. and then, “connection time out” will appear. im pretty sure we have strong connection, because i can access other sites from browser like a breeze, but not the play store. please help! thank you

i have upgraded my xperia ray to ICS 4.0.4 (4.1.B.0.587). everything is fine and perfect except starting applications and exiting applications to home screen or application window is quite slow. it takes few seconds to load all application icons in application window and same with home screen. but it is fine while scrolling for the second time. i have factory restored my phone after upgrade but the phone is quite laggy which i dont like. i have got 16 GB SanDisk memory card. could memory card be the reason? would you please suggest me what can be done to fix this issue?

you’re back?
anyway, upgraded my ray to version 4.0.4 about a month back. last week, build upgrade 4.1.B.0.587 came out. questions:
1. safe to upgrade? is contacts/data backup needed 1st?
2. any plan for a review on d new build upgrade?
thank you a zillion for your effort, Akhil.

First of all thanks for helping me. I have a Sony Xperia P with Android 4.0.4 . I am unable to connect to office wifi from time I have bought this phone. Wifi in my office used to work flawlessly on my earlier phone LG Optimus P500. But now it doesnt. Unfortunately I dont have access to reconfigure wifi router. Can u suggest something which will make my wifi work? Thanks.

hi akhil, does xperia ray can support hd games? i downloaded gta3. but it is laggy and after about 5mins it hangs up. im using ICS 4.0.4,.. if i root my phone, will it solve the problem in hd games? thanks!

hi.i got problem with my Ericsson experia ray,every time i switch the phone off at night in the morning the ringtons have been change.and i can find out to nove data from the SDK to my Phone.what do i need to do?thank you

i updated my xperia ray to ICS (4.0.1 earlier and 4.0.4 now) and the messaging app has a problem. If I try to call an sms sender by tapping on the name, I dont get an option to call, but instead goes to contact list for this name to be searched.
If the sms sender is not in my contact list ( i.e., name does not appear), then tapping on this number gives me an option to call.
Do we have an alternative to the default messaging app that comes on xperia ray?

Hello !
I have aquestion. My Xperia Ray is not vibrating and the Led is not working anymore, after the instalation of 4.0.4 android. And another weird thing is when I plug my earphones the phone is not recognizing them, I have to plug and unplug them about 3-4 times to succeed. Is there any way to fix these problems ? Please help me .
Sorry for my bad english.

thank you for your information, I ll try to update it again and see if it works. The headset issue is not a big problem as the vibration.. Sadly I use the vib. mode all the time because I have classes…

hi,after updating my phone feels great..I really like lock screen because they put stock lock screen in Ericsson and better in Sony xperia devices..one thing bothers me very much that it has lost abode flash player plugin on ics..and I installed it from other sources. and its not syncing with browser..and I had googled my problem and found that abode had removed flashplayer from ics and later developed v11.1 for flashgip phones like s3 and one series..if u know about this help me how to solve

Hello again ! I have another question . I was waiting for the next update, but no jelly bean for us… Something weird happened. Yesterday my phone was vibrating propperly for about 5 minutes.. But after the five minutes it stoped again. Does it hove to be with another problem .. Is it the phone ? Do you have any clue? Is my phone broken?

Hi Mr. Akhil… long time. how r u?
I’ve a problem. My experia ray LCD was broken. It fell down or i should say it was thrown forcibly on the floor. The mobile is functioning well. But, the LCD glass was broken into pieces. The Sony service center is far away from my place. From where can i order the glass so that i can fix myself over here. Please let me know. Thanks and Regards.

Direct download of internet settings using our phone is only supported by “some operators”. Only solution to your issue is, just contact your customer service and tell them to provide you the settings. Or, manually edit the APN settings!

I am using Xperia ray, when i am going to turn on bluetooth in my mobile there is continuous restart. once it resolved automatically, but unfortunately i turned on once again and it leads the same problem again, I dont know to how to resolve it. Can any one tell me how to switch on in safe mode, because if i could open in safe mode i will turn off the bluetooth so that the problem could resolve. Kindly provide the information.

It’s a software issue. Try a phone repair via sony pc companion. If the issues reappears after software repair, then there is a possibility of hardware issue. So, you have to go to your nearest sony service center. Now, please do a software repair via sony pc companion.

Could u tel me how to transfer the apps from phone memory to External SD card in ICS 4.0.4?
The move to SD card option is disabled in my phone.
Its the same in all the phones which have ICS!!
pls let me know..

2.0.3??? I’m strongly recommend you to upgrade your phone to ICS asap for better performance and stability. If the issue exist after the upgrade, it may be a battery issue. Go to sony store and show your phone to them, they will suggest the correct solution for your problem.

I’ve upgraded my Sony Ericsson Ray to 4.0.4, and have these disadvantage:
-Slow Animation and the speed of general(not Smooth)
-I have missed the group opportunity before the update, but that you can’t edit the order of them and the “phone-groups”, is at the bottom, plus some of the E-mail groups, you can’t delete on the phone, even when they are empty, I don’t see the point of having groups like this!
-That contacts is moved from “all contacts” to the groups and not only “put into” the groups, I find so annoying
-the way it merge e-mail contacts with your phone contact, make it’s very confusing
-Favorites contacts is “many-click-away” (contacts->groups->favorites), Why?? When it’s who you are contact most???
-It’s longer time to turn-on, and sometimes it has change all my sound, ringtone, alarms and so on, when it’s has start-up.
-The programs is long time to load and even some of them crashes.
-The browser couldn’t start(this thing I have solve, look further)
-The e-mail program can’t check for new mails, so I have to install the gmail app
-The “yes/agree” and “no/cancel” buttons has change side(right? or am I remember wrong???), this is only a matter of time, but I have pushed the wrong answer many times so far
-I have also the “not-flashing”-problem, when i’ve recieved a SMS and the screen is off.
-The SMS icon in the notice-bar is more dark and less clear
-The battery time is more worse, and I know all the things about saving battery. Before i could have the phone on about 2 days on one charge, now it’s only one.
-2 Gallery apps, “Xperia Gallery” and just “gallery”, again why???
-More difficult to take a screen capture(thanks for the guide:-)), but okay, I don’t use the feature much, so…but still a bit annoying.
-Why make things more worse and complicated with a upgrade???

On the plus side
+It’s look more elegant
+On the lock screen, you can start the camera on the opposite side of “unlock”

So I was totally minded to downgrade. So I find this side: http://dkgadget.com/downgrade-sony-ericsson-xperia-ray-from-ics-to-gingerbread/
But before downgrading I back-up my things and decided first to try a “settings reset” – without erasing user data.
This help definitely on the speed of the phone, my browser works again, I don’t know about the battery time, because I did it this morning, but I cross my fingers. The e-mail program doesn’t work, so I still have to use the gmail app.
This is a thing I would recommend you to do, and as there stands, it don’t erase your pictures and so on, so it’s very simple and uncomplicated.

Now I would try this for some time, but I’m still think, that i would downgrade because of so many cons. Could a “factory data reset” be enough?
Is there someone, who know, a easier way to downgrade instead of the way from the link above?

Hi, I am using xperia ray. I updated it to ics but when I switched on the bluetooth my phone suddenly froze nd I couldnt operate it. I turned it off but it keeps on loading and loading The sony logo
but does not continue to load the homescreen. What is the problem?

Hey Akhil!
After a really lengthy research ’bout upgrading my Ray from GB to ICS, I finally did it yesterday! As the people from Sony had priorly said, I am experience a bit of lag. But my phone is still quicker than my previous android phone! The comments and reviews on this forum was really helpful. However I am facing a few issues listed below
1. The backed up contacts on my SD card was not totally restored. So i’m missing some contcts at the moment
2. The keys vibrate while texts even after disabling the ‘vibrate on touch’ option in the settings
3. If there is an option to disable hepatic feedback pls tell me
4. The connection to the play store has slowed down
Please reply ASAP

2. The keys vibrate while texts even after disabling the ‘vibrate on touch’ option in the settings.

Sol: Go to messaging and create a new message to open the keyboard, after appearing the keyboard click on the “settings key” on the keyboard(right side of the space bar). Then uncheck “Vibration on keypress”.

Now that I have ICS on my device, I am enjoying all the new animations and benefits The phone is now a bit laggy owing to the 1GHz processor
I wish to root my device!
1. Are there any issues cropping after rooting xperia Ray (4.0.4, 4.1.B.0.587, 2.6.32.9-perf)
2. Can you please send me the links to get the files required for rooting
3. what are the kernels which I must download
4. I came across this term called ‘bootloading’, is it required to do it for rooting?
5. can you send me the step by step procedure for rooting?

hi, I've updated my xperia ray and it's pretty good, not perfect.
i have one big problem- I can't watch videos in browser, I did watched some after the update but for couple days it's not working, any idea? thanks, neta.

hi, I’ve updated my xperia ray and it’s pretty good, not perfect.
i have one big problem- I can’t watch videos in browser, I did watched some after the update but for couple days it’s not working, any idea? thanks, neta.

Are you sure on this? Is your phone is completely switched off/screen is turned off? Because,Most of the xperia ray is having a hardware issue. Check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4p0-kv1cxA and verify.

Hey, theres a big problem. My xperia ray just doesnt update at all. Its still android 2.3 version. The pc companion says that my phone has got a new update. when i connect it, it shows preparing but after sometimes it just vanishes. The home page comes again. I dont know what to do. Please help?

Warm Welcome To Androidizer, and I’m extremely sorry for the late reply. I was busy on my exams:)

Well, you can try a manual update using Sony Update Service. Did you tried that? If not, just download Sony Update Service and install the software on your PC and just follow the instructions provided by the software.

I hope, this will resolve your issue. If your are having any issues, please let me know.